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White Darkness
---------------------------- BB Post in Progress ----------------------------- Group: Reports Title: Astronaut Killed In Accident ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ASTRONAUT KILLED IN ACCIDENT HOUSTON - Lion Cooper, a 12 year veteran with the National Aeronatics and Space Administration, was killed yesterday while participating in an excavation on an asteroid yesterday morning in the THX-11 star system, said a NASA spokesperson during a press conference yesterday afternoon. As part of NASA's ongoing effort to explore and chart five solar systems now under United Nations control, Cooper and four other astronauts were excavating extraterrestrial ruins located on one of the many asteroids orbiting the star when a section collapsed unexpectedly just under a half hour into the mission. The remaining four were able to return Cooper to the NASA shuttle, but his condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead two hours later. This is the second fatal incident in the THX-11 star system. On October 25th of 2029, an infestation of Scraplets destroyed the NASA shuttle Courageous and later the Earth Defence Command shuttle Banzai, sent to assist. 41 people were killed, raising concerns for the safety of Earth's space explorers. The ruins themselves, currently of unknown origin, were not expected to be dangerous. "They're millions of years old and the mission was an exercise in learning about an ancient culture, not a salvage operation for technology," said the spokesperson. "There is however some suspicion concerning the collapse -- our first survey suggested the danger was practically nil." Secretary General Witwicky indicated he would ask Earth Defence Command and the Autobots to take over the excavation, and expressed his condolences to Cooper's family. An Arizona native, Cooper was a former Navy pilot before becoming an astronaut. He is survived by his mother, wife, and 2 year old daughter. NASA said a public memorial service would be scheduled later in the week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ EDC ------------------------------------- Message: 22/1 (timeout warning) Posted Author Mission 2: Briefing Fri Oct 24 Marissa Faireborn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** TEXT ONLY *** As you know, the UN now has a manned presence in six new star systems and are conducting surveys on each. Earth Defence Command is providing security. Today both the survey team and our own security force in a system designated THX-11 failed to send its hourly check-in signal on two consecutive occasions. The Banzai is being fueled and prepped to determine the cause. I have spoken with General Witwicky, and he will be leading the investigative team himself. The survey team consists of a single NASA transport, the Courageous, with a crew of 23. Our security detail included 12 Starknights. At their last successful check-in, it was reported that they were heading deeper into the system to scout an asteroid that had possible energon-grade ore. They had landed and were using the Courageous as a temporary base when they began missing check-ins. THX-11 is a brown dwarf star, and the system is heavily radiated. This shouldn't be a safety issue, however, as the Banzai, the transport, and individual Starknights are fully capable of protecting its inhabitants. Expect trouble using sensors, however. There are no planets of any significance in the region. --- RULES OF ENGAGEMENT --- Mission Overview: Determine what happened; render necessary assistance or rescue Operational Command: Earth Defence Command Where military force may be used: Per judgment of the officer in charge When military force may be used: Per judgment of the officer in charge Mission Lead: General Spike Witwicky Mission start date: Oct 25 2029 Mission start time: 1700 Signing Officer: Col. Marissa Faireborn Comments: Top priority is the safety of any personnel. Keeping the system secure is a distant second. Please also note that this mission is deemed classified and should not be discussed outside of the EDC, Autobots, or Junkions. OOC: Saturday, 5:00pm EDT. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THX 11 At the centre of this system is a brown dwarf star. A number of planetoids orbit at various distances from the sun, ranging from gas giants to small balls of dirt and ice. None are particularly suitable for anything larger than an outpost, but the star itself is highly desired for astronomy scientists wishing to learn more about the nature of the universe. A sparce but wide asteroid field is located at mid-range. The high radiation levels make sensors a touch sketchy. Contents: Redshift Kup XF-35B Astral Lightning Marissa Faireborn Redshift says, "So, what's going on, Catechism?" Catechism says, "The humans are making another feeble attempt at space exploration. We shall see if they find anything of value, and if so, we shall, shall /steal/ it. otherwise, we'll just ambush and crush them for their insolence." Hinder says, "Why?" Redshift says, "Excellent!" Catechism says, "They think that they can claim five star systems by waving a few flags around. Feh!" Redshift says, "Step one, destroy all humans. Step two, profit!" Monstereo says, "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v-rJmvsb13dA8" Marissa Faireborn has left. Marissa Faireborn enters the Terran Shuttle . Quickswitch has arrived. Quickswitch transforms into a large drill tank. Fleet has arrived. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle returns. ^-^ The way holograms do. From Terran Shuttle , James Bailey drops Exo-Jet Apollo Class . Fusillade has arrived. Fleet has left. Gnaw has arrived. Kup answers the hail from the bridge of the Michael Briar--let's assume it's a big shuttle--leaning over a human comms officer. "This is Kup, Autobot Security Advisor on board the Michael Briar. We're in system and preparing to land on the planet. Has anything changed on the ground since the incident?" XF-35B Astral Lightning flits through space. The humans made it extremely obvious that they were up to soemthing out there. Is it a trap, perhaps? They do seem to have killed many of their own out here, the squishies have, so this place is dangerous to humans, at least. She radios the Decepticons, either on wing or in shuttle, <> From Terran Shuttle , Sam is not actually flying the ship, he's way in the back in the exo-bay, making some last-minute checks on the Starknights (etc) that will be launching when the shuttle arrives at its destination. From Terran Shuttle , James Bailey sits in the shuttle's cargo bay, in the pilot's compartment of his Exo-Jet. He's wearing a flight suit, helmet in hand, but at the moment his jet is mostly powered down and he's watching a few small displays that show some of the information relayed from the Shuttle's sensors. His comm system is tuned to the local EDC and Autobot radio traffic, and he occasionally makes notes and updates to a tactical screen as he picks up snippets of what's going on. Kup has left. Kup enters the Terran Shuttle . Redshift transforms into his sleek spacecraft mode and takes to the air. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle has her air laptop up and running, the free-floating monitor displaying a maze of grids, lines and nodes as she puts a few tweaks to a circuit design. She glances up from her seat, glancing out of a port at the blackness beyond. A technician from the North Carolina's voice can be heard on the Michael Briar's comm systems. There's an electronic twinge to it. "Copy that, Michael Briar. This sector has been quiet since the incident. The rest of our scouting operation has been proceding smoothly. Our security detail reports that patrols have turned up no sign of enemy presence." Robots in disguise! Excise transforms into his sleak Cybertronian jet mode. Cybertronian Jet hugs Catechism's wing. Not literally, of course, but he's flying quite close to the Aerospace CO. <> Although a fully capable space thug, Excise isn't FTL capable and had to launch from the Decepticon shuttle. So much for the EDC patrols being able to pick everything up. Red Spacecraft is certainly no stranger to the dangers of space, although it's more his style to just fly out and start shootin' stuff, as opposed to trying to go unnoticed. No running lights to betray his position, and the craft is small, smaller even than a jet. After deploying from the shuttle, he remains away from the group but still in radio contact, sensors open for signs of trouble. Within that blackness beyond, a Decepticon war party lurks. Fusillade draws up behind and to the right of the shuttle, and promptly steers wide to begin jumping from umbra to umbra behind asteroids. From time to time the space bomber visually scans the local space for any tell-tale white and red streaks of a particular Air Guardian's super-jet form. A moment passes, and after she hears Excise's radio burst, she queries back, <> From Terran Shuttle , Kup nods, even though the humans on the Carolina can't see it. "Understood, North Carolina. Keep us updated, and if trouble shows up--Quintessons, Decepticons, even the frickin' Concurrence--get the hell out of here. We'll try to handle this. Michael Briar out." Kup feels momentary unease at signing off as someone else's name, but it passes. He stares at the helmsman, growling low under his breath, "Get us on that planet," then he watches the main viewport quietly. Among the Decepticons, a roly-poly Sharkticon awaits. He's on the Decepticon Shuttle but if someone can give him a lift... From Terran Shuttle , Sam finishes his rounds and then heads up into the front of the Terran spacecraft. When he gets there, he asks of the sensors operator, "Evidence of scraplets?" Under Kup's direction, the Michael Briar glides deeper into the system, heading towards the asteroid in question. Unlike most sci-fi asteroid belts, this one is grounded in reality, and thus is very, very sparsely packed. The asteroid itself is large enough to have noticeable gravity. On the Terran Shuttle's viewscreens, an image of the ruined facility can be seen. It is hard to make out what it might have looked like in its prime, but now it appears to be a bunker about Metroplex's size. There's several entry points. About one tenth of it has collapsed. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle opens a window on her monitor and reviews the EDC report issued by Marissa. Lavender eyes scan the details. "H'm... Excavations of a scientific or archaeological nature on the planet THX-11. Details of excavation, outpost, possibly Cybertronian. Certainly Transformer scale. Incident - collapse of ruins on one Lion Cooper, NASA astronaut and researcher. Question - was the collapse accidental or sabotage? Assuming second, further query - who, and why? Notes - recent Scraplets outbreak in the vicinity of planet." At that point Sam asks his question, and she looks up, as he does. XF-35B Astral Lightning sticks fairly close to the asteroid, confident in her agilty. If the Michael Briar is headed towards an entrance point, she instead heads for the one that seems to be farthest away, hoping that the other Decepticons will follow. All the better to ambush the humans! <> Excise replies to Fusillade over the Decepticon shortwave. It's tough to tell whether or not he's just trying to be a smartass or if he's just a dumbass. As Catechism expects, Excise angles himself to stick with her, ready to follow the Aerospace CO to one of the entry points. From Terran Shuttle , James Bailey fastens his helmet on and then hits a row of largish switches one after another. Various whines and power-up sounds occur throughout his Exo, and a small red 'READY' message appears helpfully on a screen above the switches. He transmits over the local EDC-Autobot frequency, "That is one big installation. Kup, even working together it'll take us quite some time to search, clear and secure a facility of that size." He checks a screen showing the tactical feed from the shuttle's sensors one more time. "But it looks like we're clear for now, no hostiles showing up yet." From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle looks worried. "Does that includes scraplets, Master James?" From Terran Shuttle , Kup squints at the viewscreen. "That... I've been here before, I think. Haven't I?" He stares at the picture of the bunker, and points a finger at it. "Keep a camera on that bunker! I've... I've seen it before! I swear I have. I just can't... I just can't pin it down!" "Scans do not currently show any sign of Scraplets," the sensors operator reports. From Terran Shuttle , Kup nods, transmitting back to James, <> Red Spacecraft adjusts his trajectory to meet up with Catechism and the unknown but talkative space-jet. The installation ahead seems empty, and not very interesting... Redshift is in support of taking things away from the humans, but only if he gets to enjoy himself in the process. Hopefully some Autobots and defenseless humans will show up to play. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle tries to settle at the sensor operator's assurance, but fails. She doesn't like scraplets at all, and the thought of any being onthe planet surface below makes her shudder slightly. The navigator on the Briar glances over his shoulder. Worried lines crease his forehead as the old Autobot slips into a flashback. "Yes sir, bringing us on. Sensors locked on the bunker," he says in a loud voice, trying to snap Kup out of his reminiscing. The Terran shuttle glides down towards the asteroid's surface, touching down a short distance away from the entry-point that's been selected. It's far away both from the collapsed section and wherever the Decepticons choose to make their entry. It's a hop, skip, and a jump between the shuttle and the ruins. From up close, one can see that the bunker is made of metal, though much of it has been disintegrated due to time. There's holes littering the hull, though whether it was caused by time, weapons fire, or Scraplets is impossible to tell from here. There's no way it would be airtight. On the plus side, if this place /was/ infested by the diminutive menace, there would be nothing left at this point. The asteroid's ground consists of a brownish/grey rock and ice. From Terran Shuttle , Sam frowns a little grimly and nods at the sensor operator, looking darkly concerned over the prospect of being back in this system. "Should prepare to launch." He turns abruptly and heads back for the launch bay. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle dismisses her holocomputer witha handwave and rises to her feet. "Should I prepare also..?" From Terran Shuttle , James Bailey enters the Exo-Jet Apollo Class . Exo-Jet Apollo Class leaves the Terran Shuttle . Exo-Jet Apollo Class has arrived. Fusillade sports briefly around the Decepticon shuttle, barrel-rolling around it a few times as her path arches up and over the larger craft. Swing her wings back to their fully swept position, she radios back, <> She fishtails a bit in the thin atmosphere, but follows the rest toward the entry point. From Terran Shuttle , Jayson Redfield has been here this whole time, keeping quiet and mostly just fidgeting or occasionally pacing. He still dislikes going into space, but doesn't ever complain about it. Everyone's likely aware of it, anyway. From Terran Shuttle , Kup nods at Sam's words, though he's still focused on the bunker. The navigator's attempt to put him back in the present doesn't really work too well, but eventually Kup says, "Alright, suit up, then I'll see you guys outside. Remember, buddy up and don't lose sight of your partner." And on that note, he hustles out of the shuttle. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle rubs Jayson's shoulder as she rises. It makes little impact given the layers of clothing he wears, but hopefully he can feel it. "Hey, you. Smurfing okay..?" she asks, trying to put aside thoughts of scraplets. Kup leaves the Terran Shuttle . Kup has arrived. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet coasts out of the EDC shuttle's cargo bay using brief, gentle puffs of maneuvering thrusters, then takes up a position above the craft, where it can cover the launch of other Exo's. Inside, James pilots almost absently, trailing along the same path as the shuttle. Most of his attention is occupied by displays in the cockpit, and he occasionally taps controls for further data. "Roger, Kup. Teams of two. Sam, Redfield, looks like you guys are leading the way again. The rest of Saber team, you're on guard duty around the shuttle." The six starknights of Saber team emerge and take up defensive positions around the Michael Briar. "Kup, if you don't mind? My Talon's about the size of your robot mode, we'll have to look for larger openings to enter." Quickswitch has left. XF-35B Astral Lightning starts to go in for a landing next to that far exit, trying to stay behind cover as much as possible. She uses a light touch with her reaction jets, as she eases in closer, closer. From Terran Shuttle , Jayson Redfield takes in a deep breath, attempting to calm himself. "I...I'm fine. Just...nervous, I guess. Don't worry about me." He stands and hurries over to the Starknight he has borrowed for this mission. Once he gets that space upgrade for his Talon, he won't have to use the Starknights anymore. Red Spacecraft transforms into his robot mode, equally adept at traversing the vacuum and micro-gravity enviroment, but smaller and more compact, letting him stay behind the meagre cover as he makes his approach close behind Catechism's larger airframe. The sleek red spacecraft transforms into the winged warrior Redshift. The entry-ways consist of two-door airlocks, suggesting that at one point there was meant to be an atmosphere within the bunker. They are large. Grimlock could waltz through them without having to stoop. The electronics that operate the airlock doors are broken, but the walls have become brittle enough that one could rip their way in without too much difficulty. Unless the heroes are creative, this may be the best way in. At the Decepticon entry-way, both sets of airlock doors have -already- been blown apart. The unmistakable sign of laserfire damage can be seen against the metal hull. Still, it's obvious that this happened many, many years ago. The ruins have been estimated to be millions of years old, and the damage may be that as well. Through the broken airlocks is a hallway running left and right. Monitors and computer banks line the walls, all of them offline. Catechism's last pose: XF-35B Astral Lightning starts to go in for a landing next to that far exit, trying to stay behind cover as much as possible. She uses a light touch with her reaction jets, as she eases in closer, closer. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle moves to the launch bay, looking back over her shoulder to Jayse. "Do not worry, you will be fine. And I am waiting to challenge yo and your Talon to combat practise..! You know that, right?" Space-Going B-1R Lancer looks at the size of the entry, and twitches her nose canards as she curses under her intake. <> She transforms to robot mode, and maneuvers more confidently now that she's exponentially smaller. She eventually pulls up to and past the hovering Catechism, and gives a quizzical shrug to the spaceplane as she floats past. <> She makes that fateful first leap inside! Cybertronian Jet sticks with Catechism as they zip towards the far entry-point. Transforming and landing on the cold hard asteroid surface, the all terrain warrior scoffs, "This place is ancient, boss. I don't think we're going to find anything useful that's a bazillion years old. Maybe we should just go crush the Autobots and fleshlings and then be done with it. We could go hack their heads off. With a knife." He watches as Fusillade enters. Better her than him as far as he's concerned. If it's a trap, he'll be a-ok out here. More than meets the eye! Excise transforms into his powerful robot mode. From Terran Shuttle , Sam drops Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare . From Terran Shuttle , Sam enters the Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare . Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare leaves the Terran Shuttle . Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare has arrived. XF-35B Astral Lightning points out lowly, "Excise... need I remind you that many of /us/ are several million years old? And yet, we are, nonetheless, dangerous and valuable?" Really, Transformers should be the last people to dismiss things as useless due to age. She transforms and follows the others inside... XF-35B Astral Lightning transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her shoulders to expose her face, and her wings rotate into position. Kup sweeps a flashlight across the ruins before it finally settles on the airlocks. <> He steps up to the airlock, staring at it, open-mouthed for a few moments. <> From Terran Shuttle , Jayson Redfield drops Exo-Suit Starknight . From Terran Shuttle , Jayson Redfield enters the Exo-Suit Starknight . The sleek bomber rears up, wings collapsing onto hips even as the rear fuselage splits to form arms. The horizontal stabilizer slides up, the forward fuselage folds up accordian style, and Fusillade hops up on thrustered feet. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam climbs in his suit and powers it up, then waits for the okay to launch into space. When given clearance, he leaves the ship, and then spins around on all axes to get a good sensor look in all directions. Over the local EDC channel he broadcasts, "Starknight Five three eight five launched, awaiting orders." Exo-Suit Starknight leaves the Terran Shuttle . Exo-Suit Starknight has arrived. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle taps at her radio. "Master James, Cadet Kalle, here. May I be part of the team with Sam and Redfield?" "Yes, but we get upgrades and such. I mean just take Soundwave. Last time I saw him he transformed into a street lamp. Now he transforms into a tiny box!" Excise points out to Catechism. "I rest my case." Looking in the direction that Fusillade went, Excise transmits, "Hey! Are you still alive in there? Is it safe?" Assuming Fusillade's reply does not consist of a painful death cry, he'll assume it is safe and follow the others on in. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle looks out towards the others, waiting for orders. Exo-Suit Starknight lauches from the shuttle, the pilot still horribly nervous, but trying not to let anyone know. No matter what, though, he stays close to Sam. Real close. Kup says, "Eh, Sam, James already put you with Jayson. He wants you guys to find another way in and search the area. Contact us immediately if you run into trouble. Eh, Dea... Kalle? If you wanna go with 'em, fine." Redshift follows in too, rifle in hand. Although sadly, he'll probaly get abducted by a space alien soon like an extra in a horror movie. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle punches the air. "FINALLY!" she cheers - to herself, since nobody else is around to hear. From Terran Shuttle , Dea Kalle drops Smurfette Doll. From Terran Shuttle , Junki-Hovercar glides along... Wiretap says, "Kup? I'll have a large cafe mocha while you're at it." From Terran Shuttle , Smurfette Doll climbs into the hovercar. From Terran Shuttle , Dee-Kal takes Smurfette Doll. Private Jayson Redfield says, "Who the hell are you?" Wiretap says, "don't be hatin! Iz in ur radio, tappin yur wirez" Cadet Dea Kalle says, "Ryokai shimashita!" Private Jayson Redfield says, "...Did you just talk in chatspeak?" Talazia Keldahoff says, "in other words....he's like soundwave." Inside the Decepticon entry way is a large room. From the looks of it, it was once large cargo storage room at some point. Elongated crates that were once orange but are now covered in a thick layer of dust litter the bay. Some are still on the shelves where they were likely supposed to go, but many more have been knocked over and shot up. There are signs of weaponsfire. It's clear there was a battle here many years ago. Imprinted on the far wall next to a destroyed doorway is a large roughly trapazoid indent of some sort. It looks like it may be a sort of 3D poster, but it's impossible to tell what it is due to the layer of dust clinging to it. At the Autobot entry-way, Kup raps the airlock, leaving cracks in the doorway. It does not give a lot of confidence in the stability of this bunker or the strength of its walls. At least getting in should be easy, if one isn't afraid of causing some property damage. Talazia Keldahoff says, "stick to tightbeam everyone." Wiretap is a she, by the way. "That's how you meatbags talk, right?" Wiretap says, "Aww, tightbeams are no fun." Kup says, "Heh, ok. Hey, miss? Hope and pray I never meet you." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Tell Soundwave to keep a leash on his tapes." Talazia Keldahoff says, "and get off our channel.....DUDE!" Dee-Kal leaves the Terran Shuttle . Dee-Kal has arrived. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet glides up to the airlock slowly after Kup, emitting small but nearly constant bursts from maneuvering thrusters set around the Exo's frame for delicate adjustments to speed and direction. Inside, James eyes Kup's image on one of his displays. The Autobot sounds halfway on his way to some sort of breakdown. But his voice is confident as he transmits, "Kup and Ghost Lead, we're entering the facility." His exo's main engines brighten just a bit and he coasts in ahead of Kup, flicking on landing lights to provide some illumination. Wiretap says, "Hey, you stop broadcasting sensitive communications over the elctromagnetic spectrum, /then/ I'll stop listening." Noah Wolfe has encrypted this channel. The EDC channel has been encrypted. Talazia Keldahoff says, "thank you." Kup says, "You'll stop listening when--ennnnghhh." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Sweet." Kup says, "I had a threat ready to go and everything." Cadet Dea Kalle says, "Phew!" Red Alert says, "Personally, I actually prefer it when they /tell/ me they're listening. It makes my job easier." Private Jayson Redfield says, "You'll get another chance to threaten her!" James Bailey says, "Stay focused, guys." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Hey, if I'm not focusing on the face that I'm out in space, then I won't be panicking." From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam is, sadly, the less nervous of the two-man EDC team. He leads toward the base. "Jayson, scan facility, please, report findings?" Possibly just to give the other pilot something to do on approach. James Bailey says, "Kid, why don't you focus on the fact that the sooner you get your Exo into that facility, the sooner it'll be on solid ground?" Fusillade eventually sets down, with her footfalls fading in a tappity-tap tap in the distance. <> She will likely have her back to the others as they get past the double airlock doors, prodding at the now defunct trapezoid with the tip of one wingblade. Private Jayson Redfield says, "O-oh, yeah, right!" Kup nods, and appears to confirm James's report. <> Then he pulls back a fist, and smashes it right through the airlock, which comes apart as if it was made of glass. He steps through the dust, waving it aside, then punches his through the second airlock. <> Kicking aside debris, Kup steps fully into the facility. Exo-Suit Starknight 's last pose: Exo-Suit Starknight lauches from the shuttle, the pilot still horribly nervous, but trying not to let anyone know. No matter what, though, he stays close to Sam. Real close. Dee-Kal runs several mental checks of her internal systems, then powers up her antigrav and joins Sam and Jayson in their respective exo suits. She floats alongside Jayson quietly, waiting for a command or suggestion. Her optics take on a purple glow, scanning the area lightly. Catechism decides to go look at the dusty boxes, since Fusillade has gone for the trapezoid. She sidles up to a box and then tries to give it a swift kick. As soon as she does that, she runs, full out, for the opposite side of the room. She suggests, sounding calmer than she looks, "If it does explode, I suggest ducking. Y'know. Hypothetically." From Exo-Suit Starknight , Taking Sam's suggestion, Jayson starts scanning the ruins, and while he focuses on that, he becomes aware of Dea coming up beside him. He bites his lip slightly. "No power...no heat signatures...nothing. At least, nothing my scanners can detect." The trapazoid is tapped by Fusillade's wingtip, rubbing the dust off a section of it. The colouring is dull, the metal has become brittle, and there's a dent that suggests it was hit with a laser bolt, but there's no mistaking what it is. Indented into the wall is a red Autobot insignia. Despite the battered appearance, the emblazoned symbol still proudly declares the owner of this bunker. "Well, this just got a bit more interesting..." Redshift muses, keeping his rifle trained on the exit, should any unwanted company follow them inside. "Is this place not on any records or anything? A forgotten fringe outpost?" Dee-Kal lands gently, raising a slight dust cloud as she does. The young Junkion femme is a contrast to the sturdier frames of the exo-suit 'bots' alongside her, but she respects the mission and takes little initiative other than to keeps her senses focused for danger (like from scraplets) and backing up Jayson's scans with a few of her own. "Scanning..." she recites as she does so ".. mineral elements, metal, componentry, no signs of recent use detected. I concur." The heroes enter the facility as Kup kicks aside the debris. Upon moving aside the inner airlock door, they are confronted with the remains of a Cybertronian. There isn't much left other than a torso and its right arm. It is laying 'face' down in the dust with its arm outstretched towards the door that's just been removed. There are deep scratch marks on the inside of the door, and the mech's fingernails have been worn down. His head and other three limbs are no-where to be found. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam pilots his suit on down toward Kup's recently created entranceway, and follows the large Autobot inside. Monstereo says, "Tonight! Miss America 2030 coverage! ... What? No we won't be covering up the contestants, Jet-Throw you dunderhead." Dee-Kal smiles. Dee-Kal smiles. Dee-Kal smiles. Monstereo says, "OOC geeze, rl Ms California Jackie Geist just did her walk... coincidental timing or what?" From Exo-Suit Starknight , Jayson Redfield follows after Sam, still scanning. "Hey...I got some readings now. I'm picking up motion and heat on the opposite side. Jeez...I hope we don't find any angry ghosts around here." Excise grunts at the Autobot insignia, "I knew this place was trouble. Looks to me like this is a secret Autobot facility from which they're planning to strike out at us from!" The triplechanger wanders over to one of the fallen containers and picks it up. There's cracks running up all over it, and one end has broken off. There's an Autobot insignia on it as well, and Excise shakes his head in annoyance. "No telling what was once in it," he comments. Dee-Kal follows after Jayson. She picks up the exact same readings. "Ghosts cannot hurt you, Jayson. You are thinking of zombies, perhaps? Or maybe scraplets..." Kup stares at the fallen robot. <> He crouches by the robot, turning him over onto what's left of its back. The corpse's remaining arm comes off in the process, but what really gets to Kup is the fact that he recognizes what's left of this guy! <> Angrily, he punches his fist into a wall, but vastly underestimates how well it's holding together. The wall, much like the airlock, crumbles from the blow, revealing... THE DECEPTICONS! <<...what?>> Kup mutters, blinking. <> Catechism glowers over at the Autobot symbol. Since the box hasn't exploded, she aim a laser at any hinges or locks and tries to open it, musing, "This place may be worth something, after all..." Then, Kup punches in a wall. She stares dumbly for a moment before composing herself, gesturing, and shouting, "Decepticons, attack!" "I'll say, last time we went to a place like this, it was an Autobot prison camp. Maybe they'll have Transformers stuck in a box like the Combaticons were!" Fusillade says as she eagerly wipes more dust off the sigil. "Guess the hyoomans can't claim it for themselves anymore now! Although the Autobots might just GIVE it to them, they're kinda lame li---" KRACK!!!! The wall crumbles. "Oh, hello," she chirps out. "Audials burning?" From Exo-Suit Starknight , Jayson Redfield smirks a bit. "Ghosts have a lot of ways to hurt the living, Dea..." He abruptly tenses. "Decepticons?! Oh HELL!" Highload has clearly been dead for eons. There isn't even a head left to help Kup identify the body, but perhaps the distinctive chest and Autobot insignia is unmistakable. Lashing out in anger, the wall collapses, exposing the hallway to the cargo bay the Decepticons had been exploring. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam is just entering the airlock when Kup calls out the sighting of Decepticons. Quickly, he arms the weapon systems on his exo-suit, and flips over to call Kup on the radio. "EDC offering assistance, please respond." Sam says, "Autobots reporting Decepticon contact in facility." Private Jayson Redfield mutters, "Was afraid of that..." "Huh?!" Excise shouts as the wall suddenly crumbles. He whirls about to face Kup. Although he's been away from the front lines for a long, long time, Excise recognizes the old timer instantly. "Ahhhh, it's Kup! Run for your lives!" The triplechanger hurls the empty cargo container he was examining at the Autobot warrior and dives behind a fully stocked shelf for cover, fumbling around for his electro-rifle. If anyone asks later, he was just getting ready to obey Catechism's order. You have set the custom name for attack punch in mode 1 to "Thrown Container." You strike Kup with Thrown Container. From Exo-Jet Apollo Class , James Bailey's eyes widen slightly as he takes in the newly revealed Decepticons. Glancing around, he quickly decides he'd better get his Exo into a form better suited for close-quarters action, and triggers his craft's shift into it's robot configuration. Even as gears and servos whirr and click all around him, his activates the external emitters, "Look out for--! Er...too later." Private Jayson Redfield sounds a lot more confident now that he has something *else* to focus on. "We'll head to your location, Kup. C'mon, Sam, Deek! Let's move!" Gnaw's mind is only on one thing, as usual. As he strolls out of the shuttle, he glances around, following the others. "Food?" he wonders. Then he spots Kup. "That one taste bad," he murmurs, "Like old...ummm...grease." Kup says, "Roger that. I'll try to leave one for you guys." You have set the custom name for attack punch in mode 1 to "Punch." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Err...can you tell which 'Cons are there?" Kup kicks the breach in the wall to widen it enough for him to step through, and stomps angrily towards the Decepticons. The heavy looking box bangs against his head, but, other than the dent it forms, this largely appears to make him angrier. "Had to be a Decepticon that killed Highload. Not any of you idiots, but I'll settle for taking YOU out anyway!" As he advances on them, he plays a little soccer by kicking of wall aaaaaat... Gnaw! "And maybe yer little Sharkticon, too." Dee-Kal stops sharply at the loud radio-exclamation from Jayse, just in time to avoid cannoning into him. No pile-ups *please*! She stares, then narrows her optics - what the SM*RF are Septics doing here?! Dee-Kal lifts her hands, coils her ponytail into a bun, then clips it securely in to place on top her head in a swift set of moves. The Junkette flicks her wrists, extruding mini sidearms, and her wings click into battle-alert position. Cadet Dea Kalle says, "That would help..!" Dee-Kal h'ms. Dee-Kal h'ms. Kup says, "Fusillade, Catechism, eh, a Sharkticon, and some guy I can't quite remember. Not gonna matter in a few moments." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Ready when you are... whatever you need." Kup strikes Gnaw with GOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL. Private Jayson Redfield says, "Isn't Fusillade that creepy girl-'Con?" Fusillade is on the verge of shoving Gnaw in the direction of the EDCers, but then a wall comes down! She dances back several paces, and hmmmms to herself, raising one hand in the air and pointing to each of the group in turn. "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo..." Kup says, "Creepy? Ehh, more like sassy. Like all the worst 'con femmes I ever run into." From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam navigates through the broken airlocks and walls until he comes up near Kup's location, flipping on the floodlights on the outside of his suit in order to light up the room with the Decepticons. "Hrm.. unfortunate.." he mumbles to himself, just loudly enough to get picked up by his comm as an intentional communication. Private Jayson Redfield says, "I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, I'm headin' in your direction. I'll get one of those guys off yer back." Dee-Kal says nothing, but nods. Exo-Suit Starknight speeds through the ruins along with the other Starknight, only stopping once it comes across Kup and the others. "Ah-hah..." Excise is the one Jayson notices first, oddly enough. "You can't hide, you coward," he murmurs as he approaches, and quickly, the exo's fist draws back, then flies forward to land a punch on the Decepticon. You evade Exo-Suit Starknight 's punch attack. Twisting and shifting, the Apollo transforms into an exo-suit. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot raises a rifle-like gunpod and unleashes a quick burst of autocannon fire, not really aimed at anyone but more surpressing fire directed at the roof in order to give the other Autobots and EDC Exo-suits a chance to get into position. Inside, James uses one hand to control his Exo's movements, the other to bring up a screen showing camera footage of the path Kup and James took to this point. James Bailey says, "Keep moving, guys! I'll see if I can find a way to flank them - in a tight space like this, it'll be too easy to get in each other's way!" Private Jayson Redfield says, "When can we leave? I'm sick of exploring ruins in space." James Bailey says frostily, "We can leave after we've done our jobs." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Sorry, sorry..." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal chuckles. A little drily. Dee-Kal flexes her wings, optics focused. Trust Jayson to make the first move. Just like a little brother... too feisty for his own good sometimes, she muses. But then, she has her moments, too. So. What to do? Pick a target, wait for the battle to come to her... or something else? Private Jayson Redfield says, "Um, I got the 'Con that's...uh...hiding." Excise tumbles backwards head over heels, using the weak gravity on the asteroid to his advantage. "What th-?! What kind of Autobot are /you/?" He asks as he lays optics on the Starknight. He's heard of humans of course and he knew they'd be along on this mission, but he had no idea that their outfits would look so retarded. Reaching for his waist with both hands, Excise pulls out twin orange sai. "I like them cause they're each three times as pointy as a normal sword!" he explains to Jayson even though Jayson never actually asked. Bouncing off the wall that leads to the outside, the Decepticon triplechanger careens back towards Jayson's Starknight, the two sai outstretched in front of him. Even as he soars towards Jayson, autocannon fire from James explodes above him, and he jerks awkwardly in mid-flight. This may hamper the effectiveness of his attack. Catechism just kind of picks out a human at complete random to shoot at because, well, she figures that they can just throw the Sharkticon at Kup until he goes away. Thus, she ends up shooting at... one of the spacejet thingies. What do the humans call them? Starry, Starry Nights? Oh, whatever. Shooty. Catechism misses Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare with her Taser attack. Gnaw takes the boot and goes rolling! Well, that's easy to do when one is nearly spherical. He transforms as he goes rolling, and then starts building up speed, like a horrible parody of Sonic the Hedgehog. He tries to run into his attacker and perhaps claw at him in the process. Gnaw transforms into his Sharkticon mode. Gnaw misses Kup with his claw attack. Sudden Autobot shootings! Although Fusillade would probably later reflect that it was because the Autobots were overly sentimental about this decrepit place, she doesn't particularly think things through too thoroughly. Instead, she hastily attributes Decepticon-like qualities to the vehemence of their defense -- surely there is something awesome here that they're protecting! She ducks a bit, wingblades still shaking and wobbling in their holsters, before she skitters out into a hallway. She goes left. Deserter! Dee-Kal emits a low growl at Catechism as the Septifemme fires her taser at Sam's exo suit. Even if it misses its target, the AutoJunk's energon races faster... Exo-Suit Starknight ducks back, away from the sai. "I'm not an Autobot!" Jayson emits. "I'm what you call an EDC pilot...and I'm gonna kick your ass, you overgrown tin can!" He darts out into the open space that James has provided, and fires a bolt of electricity at Excise's chest. Exo-Suit Starknight strikes you with electricity for 9 points of damage. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam fortunately gets his exo-suit moving for cover when he comes face to face with the Decepticons, ducking behind a damaged cargo container at the last second. The Starknight receives a few minor scratches as metal fragments fly all over the place, from the tasered container, but none of the systems seem compromised. "Ah..!" he grumbles to himself, stepping his suit back around into the open and putting the targeting reticle on Catechism's torso. A pulsed beam of energy emits from two projectors on the suit's right shoulder. Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare misses Catechism with its Weak Pulse Laser attack. Sam says, "Receiving fire from Decepticons!" Bailing out of the cargo bay and into the hallway, Fusillade escapes the battle. The halls are dim and it doesn't seem like anything is functional here. Transformers naturally have superior vision in poor lighting, however, so she should be able to compensate. Upon reaching one junction, one notices an interior map embedded into the wall. It, like everything else, is covered with dust. Should one clear it, they'll get a clear picture of the bunker. Written in ancient Cybertronian are labels marking different parts of the bunker. Cargo Bay, Engineering, Crew Quarters, Bridge... it's clear this was once a ship. The Cargo Bay is where the Decepticons entered, and it appears the Autobots came from the Crew Quarters area. Kup isn't amused by Gnaw's Sonic the Hedgehog impersonation. Instead of being rolled over by him, though, Kup attempts to grab onto the ball of Sharky robot, heft it up, then toss it through multiple walls. If he was in a better mood, he might make a witty remark about pinball, or bowling, but instead he just yells, "This is for Highload, you bastards!" ...presuming he hits, anwyay. Otherwise this will be very embarassing. Kup strikes Sharkticon with No Witty Remarks This Time. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot fires one last burst of autocannon fire over the Decepticons' heads, then ducks back out of the room the way it came. Once outside, it heads back for what -looked- like a side passageway and possibly a means to flank the Decepticon war party while they're occupied by the James' own team mates. Excise sneers at Jayson, "EDC? You're one of those fleshlings, aren't you? Well I've killed many carbon freaks in my lifetime. What's one more, huh?" The Decepticon's missed lunge causes him to soar past Jayson, where he tries again to bounce off the walls. But the wall is brittle, and instead of making a perfect maneuver, Excise smashes right through it face first, causing the wall to crumble around him. A sai goes flying away as only his arm can be seen from the rubble. "Ach!" he exclaims as the electricity blasts him from there. Unable to get out for now, Excise reaches for something. "That's not electricity..." He draws out his rifle, aiming it with one hand. "THIS is electricity!" He fires a bolt right back at Jayson. A /bigger/ bolt. You strike Exo-Suit Starknight with electricity. The rolling sharkball is now airborne as Kup hefts him up and uses him as a wrecking ball. Without the chain. Sharkticon gets up slowly, but doggedly tries once again. This time he barrels full steam towards Kup, once again looking like he's impersonating Sonic the Hedgehog, only this time he is launched into the air again from a fallen wall that acts like a ramp. Yee-ha! Now it remains whether the circus-stunt wheelie will enable the sharkball to land on Kup like an Acme safe in a Bugs Bunny Cartoon or not... Gnaw misses Kup with his crush attack. Catechism manages to evade the Starknight's return shot, and contemplating her return fire, her optics stray over to those dusty orange boxes. Hmm. She decides to try to grab an orange box and fling it at her foe. Catechismhas no idea what Kup's upset about. Highload? What? He could at least yell at them for things that are actually their faults! Catechism strikes Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare with Flying Boxes of Doom. Fusillade shakes her head a bit as she listens to the fading sounds of crashing and fist-pounding, although one last oblique barrage of auto-cannon fire from Bailey's suit speeds her on her way. Skittering across the floor tiles, smacking one end of her toe into the raised corner of a buckled floor plate. "Ow, ow, ow," she hisses under her intake, before propping herself against the wall with one elbow, and frowns a bit as she catches sight of the schematics. Just how ancient was this Ancient Cybertronian? Fusillade furrows her optic ridges, and pulls her goggles up to rest atop her helm, and orients herself relative to the map. Provided she cannot read the script, she still manages to rule out 'Crew Quarters' and 'Cargo Bay'. She paces further along the hallway, towards that which has not been invesigated yet -- the Bridge or Engineering, whichever she happened to stumble upon first. Dee-Kal glowers at Catechism, but glances to one side after the other Septifemme, Fusillade. Fuming to herself, she adjusts inner settings... Dee-Kal smiles. From Exo-Suit Starknight , Jayson Redfield smirks a bit. "Well, you ain't gonna kill this one, Decepticon." He yelps as the bolt hits the exo, nearly sending him into a wall, but he manages to regain his footing. "Why don't you losers ever make it easy?" A gun extends from the Starknight's wrist, and a laser fires. "So where'd that creepy Fusillade go?" Not that he's actually expecting an answer. Exo-Suit Starknight strikes you with laser for 9 points of damage. Private Jayson Redfield just wouldn't be himself without cracking a few bad puns. "What a shocking experience that was..." Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare is very small compared to the Seeker that it's fighting, so a thrown box to its pilot seems like a largish cargo container. The box flies into the Starknight as it turns to reduce the impact, but the momentum is too much to mitigate entirely. A section of the Starknight's torso crumples with the impact, but in a noncritical location. Sam turns off the collision alarms in the suit and brings up one of the primary weapon systems. He pilots the suit around until he can hop up on top of a low shelf to take an aimed shot with his exo's laser cannon. James Bailey says, "...keep practicing, kid." Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare misses Catechism with its Arm-mounted Laser Cannon attack. Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "I have faith in Talent protecting you, Sam-u-el, but I am motivated to strike in your defence. Also where is Septic-femme Fusillade? Which do you wish?" Kup still is not impressed by Gnaw's sonic impersonation--it's entirely possible that Kup has played Sonic Unleashed and was forever scarred by the experience of doing so. Whatever the case may be, he dodges out of the way of the rolling Sharkticon, and is about to brutalize him again when he notices Sam catching a box the hard way. Knowing that Catechism is a fairly difficult opponent for a human in an exo-suit, Kup decides to help Sam out by trying to shoot Catechism in the back. "Don't look at me like that!" Kup yells. "If I blame you for something another 'con did, tough!" Kup misses Catechism with his Musket Laser attack. Private Jayson Redfield says, "It's like my secondary job. I can *only* get better." James Bailey mutters, "You can say that again." Unable to read the labels on the map, Fusillade travels the hallways blindly. As fate would have it, she finds the bridge. The door has been disintegrated, and it's clear from the moment she walks in that a large part of the battle was fought here. The layout is similar to many large Cybertronian capital ships, with a central command chair, stations around the sides, and a viewscreen at the front. Many of the chairs have been destroyed, and there's black marks on the ground. One side of the bridge has completely collapsed, revealing other hallways that lead into a wall of rubble. The most noticeable feature on the bridge is the command chair. It is large. Ultra Magnus could sit there and find it roomy. Resting on the chair, covered with enough dust to almost make it blend in, is a blue disc-like device with a rounded top. Private Jayson Redfield says, "Heh heh..." Holo-Display This is a small light blue disc with a curved upper section, similar to a 1/3rd slice of a sphere. It is small enough to rest comfortably in the hands of most Transformers, though it is heavy. What was once a glossy exterior has been affected by eons of neglect. A thick layer of dust covers it. Two points disrupt the otherwise smooth device. The first is a opening on the top, in which a small emitter can be seen. The other is to one side and consists of a small blue button. Do the electronics still work on this thing? To ICly find out, go ahead and +pressholo if you wish to activate it. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot marches quickly down a hallway that James has estimated will run alongside the room the Autobots were in, and then past the room they encountered Decepticons. He gets to an intersection...but it's 100 meters -before- where he expected it to be. By his calculations, if he turns here he should be -in- the room where the fighting is taking place. But a quick glance in that direction shows another featureless hallway. James has to admit that he's totally lost. James Bailey says, "Yeah, I've got this place mapped out perfectly. I'll be there any second." Sam calls out over the radio as his exo-suit lurches from one side of the battlefield to the other, "Very busy, Dee-Kal!" Private Jayson Redfield says, "I'm still tangoing with this 'Con--whoever he is." James Bailey says, "He hasn't trumpeted his name yet?" Talazia Keldahoff says, "If it's a conehead....they're all the same." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Nope. Not that I really care." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Not a Conehead, or even a Seeker at all, I don't think." "Funny, they all say that," Excise retorts as he smashes his way out of the rubble he found himself buried by. With a rifle in one hand and a sai in the other, he faces the EDC Starknight. "Well I mean they don't all say that /specific/ thing, but... I... I mean, the generic gist of defiance in the face of overwhelming power and strength is... basically what they tend to say. Which is to say that your comment mirrors what others that I have killed in a similar but not exact fashion." Excise hesitates and then motions impatiently with the sai. "Look, what I'm trying to get at is that although you are defiant you're still going to end up dying just like all the others who made similar statements." He nods, "Yes, that about sums it u- Ow!" The laser bolt strikes him in his jet-nose chest, searing a dark hole in it. He activates his thrusters, coming at Jayson with a flying kick. "We losers never make it easy because it /isn't/ easy!" He declines commenting on Fusillade's whereabouts as he has forgotten which one of his allies is Fusillade. Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "*tightly* Indeed... If you require no assistance I shall pursue the other Septic femme." You strike Exo-Suit Starknight with kick. Was that the sound of someone following her? Fusillade gazes back into the inscrutible darkness, and grumbles a bit. She skips the wingblades for now, and pops open the compartment to dispense her disruptor into her palm. She edges her way into the bridge, and the lines are familiar enough that it clicks for her. Ah, a ship! She hmmms quietly, a million questions running through her processor about what caused its eventual crash into the surface of this asteroid. A bit more relaxed, she half-skips over to the command dias, and whistles softly. Mmm!!! She hops up, and firmly plants her steel buns in the chair, and frowns a bit when she feels a bump in her bum. The next thing she knows, she has a ghost giving her a lap dance. Fusillade reaches over and presses the small blue button on the holo-display. The hologram disc projects a man-sized image just above itself, but unfortunately the files stored on the machine have been corrupted to the point where only hazy blue static can be seen. A strong, commanding voice cuts in and out of the audio static. "... -ybertron, but we now have an opportunity we can't afford to ... Operation: White Darkness. With Scorponok pur ... Sarikus Prime will be able to turn the tide of the war while we ... -ext location will be Rigel V, where- ... If the Decepticons follow us, then it means he isn't going to give up until he kills us all, and our delay tactic will succeed. Else ... Cybertron. Till All Are One." The voice pauses for several long seconds, and then takes on a sad tone, "To any Autobots who receive this message, listen well: I ..." the rest, tragically, is indecipherable static. It continues on for a minute before cutting off. Catechism is too fast for the Starknight and Kup combined, putting her space-modifications to good use in the low gravity of the shuttle, as she spins, ending up with her feet on the 'ceiling'. Another flip, and she's doing a wall-run, snapping off a shot at the human's exo with her arm guns again. She snaps verbally at Kup, "Oh, so should I blame you for being an annoying punk kid, then? /Plenty/ of Autobots do /that/." Catechism strikes Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare with Zap!. Dee-Kal considers. Fight? Pursue Fusillade? She groans to herself. Pursue Fusillade. Nobody else is available to do so... but not without a glance back over her shoulder as Sam's exo gets zapped by an energy blast. (DAMN!!!!!) she howls inwardly - but her decision has been made and Dee-Kal flies off fast in the direction Fusillade took. Private Jayson Redfield says, "Hah! This overgrown tin can thinks he can kill me. I've cheated death before..." The Sharkticon misses Kup yet again, but rolls after him in dogged and just plain dumb persistence. Only this time, he tries to take a bite out of the aging Autobot. Not that Kup is the tastiest thing on the menu, but he's the one who hit Gnaw first! Gnaw misses Kup with his bite attack. With Fusillade sitting on the holo-display, the device projects its image through her, causing the Decepticon to be surrounded by blue holographic static while the choppy audio message plays, routinely cutting in and out. Once the entire message is played, the device switches back off and the holographic static disappears. Elsewhere, Dee-Kal's pursuit of Fusillade should give the Auto-Junk a clear path. The footprints in the dust signaling where the Decepticon went are readily visible. From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam dodges backwards, straight into a wall. Damn close-quarters fighting, he'll have to take a training course. As he's regaining his suit's balance, Catechism takes the opportunity to shoot the Starknight directly in the chest, causing all sorts of red flashing lights and warning buzzers to sound. Sam pulls his arm up into the suit to smack the control panel a few times, to bring his targeting scanner back online, and then charges up the main gun. In space, no one can here you fire an electrical arc cannon, but they sure as hell can see it. Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare strikes Catechism with Arc Cannon. From Exo-Suit Starknight , Jayson Redfield laughs, almost bitterly. "Au contraire... I have a talent for cheating death, it seems. I was a prisoner on the Argosy, and really, I should have died there. Every situation where I should have died ended with me ultimately escaping. You don't have a chance in hell, Decepticon." He grunts as the Starknight is kicked square in the chest, this time actually hitting the wall. He straightens himself, albeit slightly wobbly. "Besides...even if, in the unlikely event that you killed me, I'm sure my friends would destroy *you*. Not a pleasant thought, is it?" He fires another electric blast. Exo-Suit Starknight strikes you with electricity for 13 points of damage. Kup's response to Catechism is merely, "Frag you," as he backhands Gnaw on his shark snout. With things in the bunker apparently relatively under control, Kup decides to take the time to catch up on recent events in the area. <> Kup strikes Sharkticon with backhand. Dee-Kal flies along, scanners on high, checking for traces, markers, anything. "If I were looking for something, I would head for where the computers were... where *are* the computers?' She picks up on something very slight, a wipe in the dust here... and then sniffs. 'H'm. I recognise that smell. That is not a ship smell. It is ... *sniff-sniff* perfume? I smell perfume..." She sniffs, and flies forwards, heading for the bridge. Fusillade purses hematite lips as the message cuts off. Tasty. She palms the device, and then steps off the chair to bang about in some of the panels and consoles for the navigation and defense stations. "Smelt, there's nothing shiny at this spot, or this spot... harrumph." She turns to exit, and possibly go further along to poke at engineering, but nearly cracks craniums with the Junkion. "Hey, watch it!" Fusillade takes Holo-Display. "Hah!" Excise exclaims, "And you fleshlings claim to be so high and mighty, AND NOW I HEAR YOU ADMIT TO BEING CHEATERS!" He cackles triumphantly as he bounces off the Starknight with his foot. Landing in front of Jayson, Excise prepares to unleash some more pain upon him, but the human fries him in the head with another electrical bolt. The triplechanger screams in pain. His rifle is holstered again and his other sai dropped as he claws at his face, trying to knock the electrical arcs away. Failing in this, he reaches for his all-purpose holster again, this time drawing out a long slender katana. "Then tell your fraking friends to start lining themselves up!" he roars, thrusting forward with the katana. Exo-Suit Starknight evades your Impale attack. Sam's percussive maintenance seems to have been successful, insofar as he does indeed hit Catechism, blasting off a good potion of one of her wings - Straxus, but that will burn when she re-enter the atmosphere, but there's nothing to be done for it. Still on the wall, she flicks out knife and attempts a run-by slashing of the Starknight, hopefully ending up behind the exo-suit when she is done. Catechism misses Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare with her Standard Issue Stabbity attack. The Sharkticon seems to be getting ignored. And he fails to bite Kup like the Coppertone puppy on that kid's bathing suit. He transforms and twirls his mace over his head, before letting it fly at the old geezer! Gnaw transforms into his robot mode. Gnaw misses Kup with his Spikey Tail Mace of Doom™ attack. From Exo-Suit Starknight , Jayson Redfield huffs irritably. "And you just proved you're an idiot!" He activates the exo's machine guns, which fire on Excise. "Now you're just ticking me off!" Exo-Suit Starknight strikes you with ballistic for 10 points of damage. Catechism overestimates her wall-run a bit and ends up accidentally running right out the exit. Whoops! The holo-display is portable and can be picked up and carried around easily enough. The consoles on the bridge are dark and broken. It would take more time to examine for sure, but it doesn't look like any of this is going to be made functional again anytime soon. On the way out, she gets to meet Dee-Kal. Fun! From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam moves forward off the wall and keeps moving, just as Catechism lands behind him and starts stabbing. The Starknight is a quick and maneuverable piece of equipment, and Catechism's blade just barely scrapes along the heavy outer armor. Sam twists the controls, spinning the exo-suit, then starts launching a cloud of miniature explosives in a cloud behind him. As the charges start exploding he launches the suit up toward the ceiling, kicking off one wall and reorienting himself so that Catechism is below instead of behind. When the dust clears from the tiny explosives, he's left aiming his arc cannon where the predicts Catechism will be... but there's no target. Kup sidesteps away from the mace, even though he wasn't looking directly at Gnaw when he attacked. "Geeze, persistent little bugger, aren't you?" Kup says to the Sharkticon. "Say, how does Sharkticon society work, anyway? Do ya have names? Numbers? Uh, grunts, maybe? I dunno, you tell me." Kup attempts to grab Gnaw's arm before he can pull it back up for another swing with the mace, then hurls him over his shoulder in a Judo toss right into a pile of dilapidated crates. "Ya know what? I'll call ya Grub, how bout that? Watch out for them boxes, Grub!" Kup strikes Gnaw with Watch Out For The Injury I Am Going To Give You (hopefully). Excise had a superb retort all lined up for Jayson. Really, it was a tremendously perfect insult that would have crushed Jayson's hopes and dreams, killing his will to live. Even if he survived the battle he would have had to carry the emotional scars of having been so thoroughly verbally thrashed for the rest of his life. But Excise doesn't get to use the retort because Jayson is busy blasting him with his machine guns. Bullets ricochet off his orange and grey armour. The angular nature of his body causes the bullets to fly off in all direction as Excise staggers back, grunting as each bullet slams into him. He desperately tries to ward off Jayson with a weak rifle blast. Dee-Kal smiles. Sam says, "Er.. hrm. Reporting one Decepticon departing encounter." You strike Exo-Suit Starknight with disruptor. Private Jayson Redfield says, "This fight...might not be going too well..." Excise says, "This carbon creature is... /lucky/. I'm going to have to bail shortly, I fear." Dee-Kal is an Auto-Junk, actually. ^-' And the voice of the other femme is unfamiliar to her. It's the Septic! Deek narrows her optics. She focuses on the holo-display unit. "Oh, I am watching it. Very closely!" Wherever Fusillade went, it's pretty obvious that she found something likely to be of interest to the Autobots and EDC. Dee-Kal growls in her vocaliser. "And I intend to take it *from* you!" Dee-Kal flexes her arms pops up her back up sidearms. Oh, boy. Do your best, Deeky... and remember - go for the gusto... She fires at Fusillade! Dee-Kal misses Fusillade with her Stun attack. Dee-Kal smiles. Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Hey, uh... was that Catechism that just went through the wall? Are we retreating?" FEED ME!!! Gnaw says, "No food?" Excise says, "I know /I/ am retreating." Excise says, "I would have won but that carbon creature is a /cheater/." A derisive snort escapes the bomber. "Whatever, this place is a WRECK! Probably got stripped down by pirates millennia before -we- got here. MIIIIIIIIGHT be something in the other room, though." She half-turns to explore what will wind up being engineering, when she hears a crunch, and tilts her head in the direction of the wall and the slightly less-dark blackness of space. "Was that Catechism?" And then, Dee-Kal powers up and begins shooting at her. "Wha-HEY!" The brightness of the shot is jarringly bright, but makes it easy to avoid. "Sorry, twinkle-toes, but the mech with the guns I need to worry about just left. Toodles!" And with that, she transforms, ripping herself free of the brittle ceiling overhead. Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a space capable B-1R Lancer, ready for flight! Fusillade begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Exo-Suit Starknight , Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Terran Shuttle . Gnaw cannot hit the broad side of Trypticon today! But he takes one more shot at Kup, with his pistol. That probably won't hit either, but there was always a chance. Yeah, a chance that Kup would trip and fall right into the path of the pistol's blast. Gnaw strikes Kup with pistol. Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "I'm calling a general retreat. Those not equipped with faster-than-light drives, fall back to the shuttle." Excise says, "Aye aye!" From Exo-Suit Starknight , Jayson Redfield is getting exhausted by now. He's not about to let that stop him. After being hit by the blast, he rushes forward, aiming a hard punch at Excise. "Get LOST!" You evade Exo-Suit Starknight 's punch attack. Auto-Junk Dee-Kal's voice is cold. "Shoot. That. Septic-Femme!! She has a holo-display unit!" Private Jayson Redfield says, "She what? Did you see the display itself?" Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "I repeat. Blast Fusillade!" Kup doesn't quite trip and fall into the path of the blast so much as he just doesn't bother dodging the shot, which burns a little hole into him. Kup looks down at it, frowning, then back up at the Sharkticon. "You guys shoulda brought more backup," he says, shaking his head, then levels his own rifle at Gnaw. "Get lost," he growls, as he fires off a searing laser bolt. Just as he pulls the trigger, he hears something on his radio which makes his optics widen in alarm. Kup strikes Gnaw with Musket Laser. Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Nobody smurfs me Twinkletoes like that. *Nobody*!" From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam's targeting scanner is on the fritz again, so he starts to withdraw back toward the EDC/Autobot entry point. The enclosed area and all the debris kicked up by fighting isn't helping. Kup says, "What? Holo-display unit? Dammit! I'm not fast enough to catch her. One of you guys in an exo might be able to, though!" Private Jayson Redfield says, "James, can you get to Fusillade? I've still got this 'Con to deal with." Fireflight says, "Are you on, Skydive?" Dee-Kal returns to the others, humiliated and very angry indeed. Kingfisher Swoop coughs. "Yes, me am right here. Kingfisher Swoop says, "We form Super-on now, right?" Saboteur Foxfire says, "Nice try, Swoop." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "DAMN!!!" Kingfisher Swoop says, "Hrnn." Fireflight says, "Whatever, Swoop" Fireflight seems unnaturally grumpy. Saboteur Foxfire says, "What's up, Fireflight?" Kingfisher Swoop says, "Hmpth. Escoose me, Mister Sunshine." Excise already has his plan mapped out after blasting Jayson again. He sees the EDC Starknight rushing for him, and he transforms into his futuristic jet mode. "Just wait until next time, carbon creature! I'll be ready for you and your cheating ways!" A single electro-blast from the blunt nosecone of the jet creates another exit for him, and Excise soars away from the punch attempt out into clear space. Robots in disguise! Excise transforms into his sleak Cybertronian jet mode. Excise begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Terran Shuttle . Fireflight says, "I was just looking for Skydive." Saboteur Foxfire says, "Yes, but...you sound agitated." Grimlock says, "Who care? Me no care." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Got the 'Con off me...but I don't know if I can reach Fusillade..." Fireflight says, "So?" Fireflight says, "I'm just anxious. He was going to take me somewhere." Kingfisher Swoop says, "Me take you somewhere!" Kingfisher Swoop says, "How 'bout, uhh..." Saboteur Foxfire says, "You're not usually agitated." Gnaw finally decides that further attacking of Kup is futile. He ambles off in the direction of the Decepticon Shuttle. Poor hungry Sharkticon no get breakfast today. Gnaw begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Dee-Kal, Exo-Suit Starknight , Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Kup, Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot, Space-Going B-1R Lancer, Terran Shuttle , Cybertronian Jet . Fireflight says, "Can you fly a shuttle, Swoop??" Sam says, "Negative, targeting system unavailable, cannot track.." Kingfisher Swoop says, "How hard could it be?" Saboteur Foxfire mutters, "Try it with no hands..." Fireflight says, "They have passcodes on the consoles so you can't unless you have a license." Grimlock says, "Me Grimlock fly shuttle!" Shadow says, "Excise, is it? Don't tell me you were bested by a mere human." Red Alert says, "Fireflight. Where, exactly, are you trying to get to?" Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "I believe he was bested by his willingness to follow a superior officer's orders. I called a retreat, he did so. We are en route back to base." Excise says, "Er... yes, what she said." Fireflight says, "Errr. Uh. Nowhere special." Red Alert says, "Oh, indeed?" Fireflight says, "Yeah. I just wanted to go see some new place. What was that place you told me about? Six Lasers?" Dee-Kal's expression is dark. She doesn't try to fire on the departing enemy, not even Gnaw. Instead, she turns and walks promptly back to the Michael Briar without a word. Kup's upper lip curls as he lines the Sharkticon up for another shot. He's ready to finish him off--but then he remembers that he's got other things to worry about. Putting two fingers to the side of his head, he yells, <> Red Alert says, "Naturally. Being unable to visit Six Lasers is /very/ aggitating, I'm sure." Grimlock says, "Psh. Six Lasers stupid." Space-Going B-1R Lancer technically retreated last round, so is doing more flying in space. Once the shuttle gets far enough away from the main star system, she boards, and plops down in a seat, chuckling a bit to herself as she begins to type up a report. Dee-Kal has left. Dee-Kal enters the Terran Shuttle . Shadow says, "I didn't mean it like that...whatever. Are you injured?" Red Alert makes mental note to check flight plans on all outgoing and returning shuttles over the next few days. Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Not... YET." Grimlock doesn't use flightplans anyway! Fireflight says, "Of course it is. I've been researching it." Saboteur Foxfire should mess with the flight plans just to toy with Red. Fireflight says, "I'm just ... excited, you know." Cybertronian Jet meets up on Fusillade's wing. "Thanks for covering for me on the broadband there," he transmits to her as the pair soar into the Decepticon shuttle. Transforming back into robot mode, Excise spends the return trip nursing his wounds and picking bullets out of his armour. Grimlock says, "Me Grimlock thought sign say 'you must be this tall' to ride on stuffs. But then when me Grimlock go, thems say me Grimlock TOO BIG! Why them not MAKE UP THEY MIND?" More than meets the eye! Excise transforms into his powerful robot mode. Kingfisher Swoop says, "They sound dumb." Grimlock says, "They is!" From Exo-Suit Starknight , Jayson Redfield breathes heavily, feeling like he's about to pass out. Thankfully, this time he didn't sustain injury (although he's certain he received a few bruises when the Starknight slammed into the wall, if that counts). <> Still, he tries to track the femme down. "C'mon, you witch..." Fireflight says, "ANYways... SKydive's not around, so I'll have to wait. Siiiigh." Shadow decides Fusillade may be irritated, and thus goes quiet. Red Alert sounds unconvinced. "Mmm-hmmm." Grimlock says, "Me Grimlock think we go somewhere where septi-cons is. So we can PUNCH THEM." Kingfisher Swoop says, "Yes!" From Terran Shuttle , Dee-Kal stares at the bulkhead of the launch bay. THe little Junkion didn't even get a fight. Her first real shot at a Septic and she MISSED. And to be called 'twinkle toes'?! She was all but laughed at! And to come up empty handed after all that. The SEptic probably got to see the entire holo-reel on the bridge and... Fireflight says, "I'll just wait here. or should I go to the Pax? It may be easier if we launched from the Pax." From Terran Shuttle , Dee-Kal stops sulking. WAIt a nano... Although Fusillade has escaped with the single mysterious message left behind, the ancient ship is once again back in the hands of the Autobots. Although its computer banks are fried, analysis will eventually reveal its true age and paint the picture of the battle that occured eons ago. Decepticon forces broke through into the cargo bay, and a running firefight took place as the Autobot defenders were backed up into the bridge. It is there the battle ended, one way or another. But only one Autobot was uncovered. What happened to the other Autobot defenders? What happened to the Decepticon attackers? For now this remains an unsolved mystery. Private Jayson Redfield says, "Kup...you okay?" Kup says, "..no. Came out all this way, only to find out a guy I knew was dead and the cons go something that might've been important." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Sorry..." On the shuttle ride back to base, Fusillade chats up Excise -- whether he wants to hear it or not. Fusillade has left. Kup says, "You don't have to be, son. Well. Let's secure this joint, see if there's anything they left behind." Gnaw has left. Private Jayson Redfield says, "Yeah...uh, you see where James went?" Sam says, "All Decepticons have departed?" From Terran Shuttle , Dee-Kal looks out of the port at the excavation site, somewhere between embarrassed and thoughtful. Private Jayson Redfield says, "I think so." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "I am a failure." Sam says, "Er..?" Kup says, "Don't beat yourself up, lass. This ain't like a TV show. Good guys don't always win." Sam says, "Injuries?" Kup says, "Eh, I'm ok, Sam. More worried about you guys." Cadet Dea Kalle says, "I am not a very good Autobot or EDC cadet. I always like to smurf about how there is so much to learn... I do not seem to have learnt much of late. I am sorry. Shitsurei shimasu." Kup says, "And relax, Deek. Yer not built for combat, I can tell. You came closer to stopping Fusillade than any of us did." Private Jayson Redfield says, "I'm fine...save for a few bruises, I think. And Deek, it wasn't your fault." Auto-Junk Dee-Kal says, "Then that is an oversight that is long overdue." Private Jayson Redfield says, "James, where are you?" James Bailey says, "Uh...I'm almost there. It's like a maze in here! What's your status?" Private Jayson Redfield says, "Intact, unless you count a few bruises. Deek is...upset." From Exo-Suit 5385 Starknight Spare , Sam sighs quietly and brings his exo-suit out of the base, heading back towards the Terran shuttle after doing a spot check for anyone caught in the crossfire. James Bailey says, "Upset? Er...okay. About what? Any other injuries? What happened to the Deceticons?" Cadet Dea Kalle says, "I need something to do. If anyone is willing, I will smurf some fixing work on circuits panels or paintwork..." Private Jayson Redfield says, "About Fusillade getting away with the holo-display. I think we're all relatively unharmed...and the 'Cons all retreated." James Bailey says, "Holo-display? Damn. All right, we'd better secure the area. Team Saber, sweep through the facility and make sure there's no other surprises. Sam, Redfield, Dee-Kal, head back to the shuttle whenever you're ready. Er...you too, Kup." Private Jayson Redfield says, "What about you, Captain? Are you okay?" Sam says, "Returning now." Cadet Dea Kalle : Cadet Dea Kalle sighs. Kup says, "I... I need a few moments to look around. I'll be right with you guys. Don't worry. But, uh, good news is, there's no scraplets. This place is just falling apart on its own, it seems." Divebomb says, "SKAWW! That is one yellow Autobot." Shadow says, "Who?" Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Ahhh I see it." Private Jayson Redfield says, "Take all the time you need, Kup." Fleet says, "What's wrong with yellow?" Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "Indeed. Yellow, like a target. Yellow, like...prey?" James Bailey says, "Roger Kup. Take as much time as you need. On the way back, maybe we can take the time to compare notes." Grey Snapper, Fusillade says, "Oh PRIMUS this is totally not your shade, Fleet." Divebomb says, "Yellow is a ridiculous color. It hurts my optics." Divebomb says, "Er...didn't anyone ever tell you?" Red Alert says, "Frequently. I refuse to believe it." Divebomb sounds slightly embarrassed. Fleet says, "OOC: And that was totally a mischaracter." Divebomb says, "You even -sound- funny." Divebomb says, "What? Someone had to say it!" Shadow says, "I'm rather partial to yellow, myself. Although I still prefer my own black and silver." Grimlock says, "Ape with a horn! And spines on the back!" Divebomb says, "That's funny. I thought I heard something familiar from this fat Autobot flyer. No, wait, not the Autobot...something inside." Divebomb says, "Now I -know- I've heard that voice somewhere before. But where...?" --------------------------------- Decepticon --------------------------------- Message: 2/90 Posted Author AAR: THX-11 Sat Jan 24 Fusillade ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fusillade appears on screen, sporting collision damage and a gleeful grin. This past cycle, Catechism took a space-contingent consisting of Redshift, that new guy Excise, Gnaw, and myself out to go intercept an Autobot-EDC mission. Turns out they were going to a base - that wound up actually being a crashed ship! Kup got REALLY mad when he found the empty of one of his friends, and he and the hyoomans started shooting at us. That meant there had to be something important there. And guess what? THERE WAS. She triumphantly holds out a holo-emitter, and proceeds to play its garbled contents. The hologram disc projects a man-sized image just above itself, but unfortunately the files stored on the machine have been corrupted to the point where only hazy blue static can be seen. A strong, commanding voice cuts in and out of the audio static. "... -ybertron, but we now have an opportunity we can't afford to ... Operation: White Darkness. With Scorponok pur ... Sarikus Prime will be able to turn the tide of the war while we ... -ext location will be Rigel V, where- ... If the Decepticons follow us, then it means he isn't going to give up until he kills us all, and our delay tactic will succeed. Else ... Cybertron. Till All Are One." The voice pauses for several long seconds, and then takes on a sad tone, "To any Autobots who receive this message, listen well: I ..." the rest, tragically, is indecipherable static. It continues on for a minute before cutting off. So anyway, a girly Junkion tried shooting me to take this away from me. I got away! Everyone piled into the shuttle, and here we are again. I will drop off this projector with Soundwave to let DCI tinker with it some more to see if they can extract more details about some of those names that just got dropped. Fusillade, out! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ One Week Later... --------------------------------- Decepticon --------------------------------- Message: 2/83 Posted Author Analysis Complete Tue Feb 03 Wiretap ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ One of Soundwave's newer tapes appears on screen, the blue weasel dubbed Wiretap. "Executrix Fusillade, the analysis of the holo-emitter you presented to me is complete. More details will be made available upon request by interested parties. Partial recovery of missing audio data, video unrecoverable. Of note, the name of the speaker of the message has been revealed, designation: Fortress Maximus." "Scouring the data banks revealed little information on Fortress Maximus or the supposed 'Prime', Sarikus. Skorponok is described as 'terrifying' and 'merciless', although this is hardly noteworthy. Reccomend reliable sources be located and interrogated regarding events circa 6 to 13 MYA. continueing to search and cross-reference data, Wiretap out." The new, more complete audio clip is presented, for interested parties: "This is Fortress Maximus to any Autobots who receive this message. Per orders I am maintaining radio silence with Autobot Command, but I have ordered Highload to return to HQ and deliver ... -ybertron, but we now have an opportunity we can't afford to pass up. I have ... Operation: White Darkness. With Scorponok pursuing us we have a chance to draw him out of the war, possibly forever. With him out of the way, Sarikus Prime will be able to turn the tide of the war while we ... -ext location will be Rigel V, where- ... If the Decepticons follow us, then it means he isn't going to give up until he kills us all, and our delay tactic will succeed. Else ... Cybertron. Till All Are One." The voice pauses for several long seconds, and then takes on a sad tone, "To any Autobots who receive this message, listen well: I apologize for failing in my mission. You must realize I doing this for the future of Cybertron, and it is not a decision I have made lightly. Still, I cannot deny that the chance to escape the war weighs heavily on me. The chance to know real *peace*. Scorponok could follow us forever, but h- ... Know that Hardh- ... not abandon you. This is a promise I swear on my life, Autobots. May Primus watch over you." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------